1. Registering with your GP: understanding your rights

    Advice and Information -

    People have told us they can have problems registering with a GP. This article explains more about your rights and what do to if you are refused the right to register.

  2. Where can I go to get help for my health out of hours?

    Advice and Information -

    Health issues unfortunately don't leave us alone at the weekend and people are often in need of medical assistance out of hours. Using NHS guidelines, we have provided some advice and information on where you can go for help when your GP is closed.

  3. Do you need help getting to hospital?

    Advice and Information -

    Find out what support is available to help you travel to your hospital appointments.

  4. What should you expect when it comes to care for your teeth?

    Advice and Information -

    Four questions staff should ask you or a loved one about your oral health if you’re a care home resident, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence quick guide.

  5. Thinking about end of life care for you and your family

    Advice and Information -

    End of life care is support for people who are in the last months or years of their life. The guidance on the NHS website helps you know what to expect, how to plan ahead and how to manage your day to day decisions.

  6. Accessibility checklist for GP surgeries

    Advice and Information -

    Help make sure that your practice meets people’s accessibility requirements using this checklist from Healthwatch Slough.

  7. Where can I go for support for my mental health as a parent?

    Advice and Information -

    We've pulled together a number of services for parents in need of support for their mental health. Read more to find out where you can go to get the help you need.

  8. Seven pieces of information that you should expect to receive after being diagnosed with dementia

    Advice and Information -

    Take a look at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's (NICE) quick guide to discussing and planning support following a dementia diagnosis.

  9. Do you need help travelling to NHS services?

    Advice and Information -

    Find out what support is available to help you when travelling to your GP, hospital or other NHS services.

  10. People with long-term health conditions most likely to avoid care services due to COVID-19

    News -

    People with long-term health conditions urged to share experiences to help improve support after research indicates that some avoided health and social care services throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

  11. Someone I love has died - where can I find support

    Advice and Information -

    Take a look at our advice article on the organisations and groups that can support you if you’re grieving.

  12. Should I see a pharmacist instead of a doctor?

    Advice and Information -

    ​​​​​​​Avoid the wait at the GP and know when to visit your pharmacist instead. Look at how your pharmacist can help you.

  13. Tell us about your experience of leaving hospital during COVID-19 #BecauseWeAllCare

    News -

    The pandemic has changed a number of things, including how people are discharged from hospital. What was your experience like? How was your loved one treated? Fill in our short survey and help NHS services know how to improve care for all.

  14. Young people's mental health

    Report -

    Young people previously revealed experiencing barriers to access mental health services. In 2019, our team used focus groups and questionnaires to understand the experiences of young people using mental health support services.

  15. What is Enter & View?

    Report -

    The visits are carried out by trained Healthwatch volunteers. The volunteers will speak to service users, staff, relatives and carers, and will observe how the service is delivered, and the general environment in which it takes place.

  16. Our annual report 2019-20

    Report -

    Find out more about the ways we're helping to improve people's experiences of health and social care services in our annual report for 2019-20

  17. Dental practice review

    Report -

    We conducted a service review of 29 dental practices across Newham in January 2017 and again in August 2017 to investigate the availability of routine NHS dentist appointments.

  18. Enter and view: meal times at Newham University Hospital

    Report -

    In June 2017 our team delivered an Enter & View project to review the food and meal time support that was offered to patients at the Newham University Hospital.

  19. 10 top tips to get the most out of your dental appointment

    Advice and Information -

    Everyone should be able to access good quality NHS dental services. Take a look at our top tips to help you get the most out of your next dental appointment.

  20. Public event February 2020

    Report -

    Over 50 people attended our public event on the 6th February 2020 at Canning Town Library, to find out about changes and updates from local services.

  21. NHS Long Term Plan: What has the NHS planned for the next 10 years?

    News -

    The NHS Long Term Plan outlines how additional NHS funding will be spent to ensure, that over the next 10 years, the health service is fit for the future.

  22. Coming to hospital during the coronavirus pandemic

    News -

    The NHS is open for business and it's safe for anyone to seek help when needed. Your first port of call should be NHS 111 unless it's a life-changing emergency.

  23. How to communicate better with people with hearing loss

    Advice and Information -

    COVID-19 poses a unique challenge for health and social care professionals when talking to someone with hearing loss. Here are some important tips to help you communicate effectively.

  24. What's the difference between social distancing, self-isolation and shielding?

    Advice and Information -

    Self-isolation, social distancing and shielding have been introduced by the Government to help you and your loved ones stay safe from COVID-19. Find out what they mean in practice and what applies to you.

  25. Getting the most out of the virtual health and care experience

    Advice and Information -

    Working with National Voices, Traverse, and PPL, Healthwatch England have put together some tips on how to get the most out of the virtual health and care appointments both for patients and health and care professionals.

  26. Enter and view: Mornington Hall

    Report -

    This was an announced Enter and View (E&V) visit, part of a planned strategy to assess the quality of supported living homes in the London Borough of Newham.

  27. Young people engagement

    Report -

    In 2017–2018, our team engaged with young people to obtain feedback regarding their experiences with Health and Social Care services in Newham.

  28. Quality assurance visit: community neuro service

    Report -

    Our team visited this service as part of joint Quality Assurance Visits with Newham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

  29. Quality assurance visit: continence care

    Report -

    Our team visited the Continence Care Service in Romford Road with the purpose of finding out about patients referral pathway experiences as part of our joint Quality Assurance project with Newham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

  30. Quality assurance visit: continuing care

    Report -

    Our team visited this service as part of joint Quality Assurance Visits with Newham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

  31. Quality assurance visit: diabetes

    Report -

    Our team visited the Diabetes service at Shewsbury Road Health Centre to find out about patients referral pathway experiences as part of our joint Quality Assurance Project with Newham Clinical Commissioning Group (NCCG).

  32. Quality assurance visit: foot health clinic

    Report -

    Our team visited the foot health clinic at University of East London, Clinical Education Building, 1 Ferns Road to find out about patients’ referral pathway experiences as part of our joint Quality Assurance Project with NCCG.

  33. Quality assurance visit: tissue viability service

    Report -

    Our team visited this service as part of joint Quality Assurance Visits with Newham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

  34. Enter and view: folkestone nursing care home

    Report -

    This was an announced Enter and View (E&V) visit undertaken by our team of trained volunteers as part of a programme to look at a range of homes within the London Borough of Newham, to obtain a better idea of the quality of care provided.

  35. Evaluation of patient experience: latent tuberculosis (LTBI) in Newham

    Report -

    In October 2016, Newham CCG commissioned our team to learn about the patient experience and feedback on the Latent Tuberculosis Infection screening service (LTBI) in Newham.

  36. Workshop: tackling tuberculosis (TB) in Newham

    Report -

    We ran a ‘Have your Say’ tackling tuberculosis (TB) Workshop in association with Barts Health NHS Trust and TB Alert.

  37. What to do if you feel unwell

    Advice and Information -

    You can have a free NHS test to check if you have Coronavirus. This article will tell you about when you can ask for a test, how to arrange it, the process and more.

  38. Accessible information

    Advice and Information -

    Information about coronavirus in accessible formats such as British Sign Language, Easy Read and large print .

  39. Initial engagement with mental health support groups

    Report -

    We visited two mental health support groups to listen to experiences and to find out what service-users thought would help make things better.

  40. Maternity care in Newham

    Report -

    Following the lead of Healthwatch England’s national focus on maternity care, we were keen to learn about women’s experiences of maternity services in Newham, therefore we designated maternity services as a priority area for review.

  41. Health services for women with learning disabilities

    Report -

    The project was carried out with the support of our Community Grants Programme.

  42. Rainbow home care

    Report -

    Our team visited the Rainbow Homecare coffee morning on 14 July 2018 to engage with service users to gain feedback on their home care experiences.

  43. Mystery shopping dentistry

    Report -

    We received feedback about the difficulty of accessing NHS appointments and undertook mystery shopping in January and August to investigate this.

  44. Obstacles to older people's access to GP services

    Report -

    This research project, carried out by Newham Older People’s Reference Group (OPRG), aimed to gather feedback from older people living Newham about their experiences of accessing GP services and what the obstacles they face in Newham.